Frequently, I am hurt by some 30-year-old women who are still single and plead for men in the fame and gain circle. Can you introduce to me one or two men who love their wives wholeheartedly and are simple and honest? Ancient men were as crazy about packaging as women, debonair, free and smooth-tongued, but when you get close, you will find that they never thought of others. Unfortunately, men chasing fame and gain jump around on stage, like fermented soybeans (natto) - indulging in their own shadows, just to be familiar with faces and easy to deal with. The honest people that girls shout to look for are often submerged among the flowers in spring because of their obvious shortcomings and low-key behavior. Because I like to eat natto, I call these low-key and friendly people natto men.
Getting up at dawn, feeling tired from spring lethargy, sitting alone by the window, I picked up a small box as big as a mooncake, opened it, and found yellow sticky natto inside. I stuck a chopstick into it and started stirring while spacing out. After three minutes, I discovered that the branches of the poplar tree outside the window actually had fuzzy green buds. Looking up again at the natto in the box, I saw that it had pulled out thousands of threads. Although there was no wind, the fine threads danced in front of me according to my thoughts, as if there was something unspeakable.
A box of natto, a few minutes time, is also a nutritious breakfast, comfortable and leisurely. Tasting the spring with soy sauce and mustard, my body gradually wakes up, and a familiar sentence "diligently untie the knot of the clove flower, let the lush branches scatter and enjoy spring" comes to mind.
Although natto is a Japanese breakfast, compared to the 2 to 5 minute action time of urokinase, it also originated from China. In ancient Chinese Zen temples, natto was often used as a gift between temples at the end or beginning of the year, or as a gift to donors. Monks would also eat natto before meditation to help absorb water in the body and reduce the number of times they need to get up to go to the bathroom during meditation. Natto is said to have been brought to Japan by Master Jianzhen, so the Japanese also call it "Tang Natto".
After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese wrapped cooked soybeans in straw to keep them at a certain temperature, then allowed the natto bacteria to multiply and ferment fully, resulting in the natto we see today, which is covered in mucus and has long threads when picked up with chopsticks. However, no matter how developed Japan becomes and how much the Japanese value innovation, natto still maintains its simple essence and Buddhist background, and the various schools that have been inherited are called Da Long Temple Natto, Da De Temple Natto, Ikkyu Natto, Da Fu Temple's Hamana Natto, and Wozhen Temple's Yaqiao Natto.
Natto is not beautiful, taking a "simple" character and a "clumsy" character, in this materialistic society that judges people by appearance, it does not have the delicate and attractive qualities of most Japanese food, it is just a silly lump. Natto is not sweet, chewing it even brings bitterness, it does not have the sour and sweet coquettishness of kaiseki cuisine. But when the Japanese are with their families, they cannot live without natto every day. Elderly people like to add a raw egg and stir to supplement more nutrition, while children treat natto breakfast as a game, enjoying standing on stools and pulling out long threads.
Some enthusiasts discuss why the Japanese live longer, holding up the habit of eating natto as a banner. They say that the digestion rate of natto is 80%, it has the effect of regulating the intestines and stomach and lowering blood pressure. It can alleviate the damage of alcohol to the human body, gradually reduce the substances in the blood that form blood clots, reduce the burden on the liver and protect the gastric mucosa; it can also effectively prevent constipation and prevent colon cancer and rectal cancer.
If a man could be as versatile as natto, even if he is not good-looking or expressive, women would not complain. Where in the world are there so many handsome and talented couples? There are still cases where someone cherishes an ordinary person, when everyone around looks down on a certain man, there is always a girl who chases him to the ends of the earth. Perhaps he is a natto man, needing to be tasted up close and carefully chewed, the benefits of eating natto can accompany a girl through long days and bring peace.
But it sounds easy, to really develop feelings with a natto man is quite difficult. Because natto looks like a blurry mass, most people feel no appetite after seeing it and stay away from it, who has the leisure to explore its Zen meaning? It's a bit like stinky tofu popular on the streets of China, smells bad but tastes good. If you don't break through the first layer of terrifying illusion and lack the courage to try new things, you will never experience the pleasure and beauty of chewing and swallowing. Many romantic and profound things are blocked by this first layer of membrane, making you miss them forever and arrogantly think that giving up is worth it.
But the fermentation of feelings is not that easy, just like from soybeans to natto, the process from no thread to pulling threads always needs some time. Girls who are not good enough are hindered by their inner fantasies, rejecting Man A and unable to overcome Man B, stopping shallowly in love again and again, wasting their youth and making mistakes repeatedly. At the age of 30, they寄托their lifelong happiness on others. They like to cheer and happily say they want natto men, sitting alone by the window, "as long as you can introduce him to me, I promise to make an effort." But when it comes to a specific person, they all retreat.
While eating natto and spacing out in the morning, I was also thinking, being fascinated by natto is indeed a kind of fate, it cannot be forced. My relaxed spring needs relaxed flower branches and relaxed natto to accompany, maybe my friends' lonely springs need to jump around between soy milk, cheese, pancakes, and pastries. A delicious breakfast must be sought by oneself.